Key takeaways
- Theme system text like buttons, labels and notifications is translated in Translate & Adapt (Theme → Default theme content). Edit default theme content in Online Store → Themes changes the wording in your default language only.
- For a fully multi-language store, use Shopify’s Translate & Adapt app - it’s free and covers product content, pages, and metafields.
- Each locale has its own content that you translate separately - products, pages, and collections each need manual translation per language.
- Shopify Markets handles URL routing and currency for multi-language stores.
To translate text manually in Shopify, install Shopify’s free Translate & Adapt app, pick a language and type your translation beside the original. A store has two layers to translate: system text (buttons, labels, error messages) and content (product descriptions, page text, blog posts). Theme text is edited in Edit default theme content (default language) and Translate & Adapt (other languages); content is translated in Translate & Adapt’s side-by-side editor.
Why you can trust us
Jacques has 15+ years of Shopify development experience. We build Fudge, the AI operator for Shopify stores, with a 4.9 rating on the Shopify App Store.
How to manually translate theme text in Shopify
This method covers system-level text - “Add to cart”, “Sold out”, “View details”, navigation labels, and other interface strings controlled by your theme’s language files. Two tools handle it:
- Translate & Adapt holds the translations for every language you’ve added.
- Edit default theme content changes the wording your theme shows in your store’s default language.
To translate theme strings into another language:
Step 1. Open the Translate & Adapt app and select the language you’re translating into.
Step 2. Under Theme, select Default theme content.
Step 3. You’ll see the theme’s strings grouped by section: General, Products, Cart, Checkout, and others. Use the search bar to find a specific phrase.
Step 4. Enter your translation next to each string.
Step 5. Save.
The translation shows on that language’s URLs once the language is published.
To change the default-language wording instead: go to Online Store → Themes, then the three-dot menu (…) next to your theme, then Edit default theme content. Search for the phrase, edit it and save. The change applies to your storefront straight away.
For changing wording rather than translating it, see How to Change Button Text in Shopify and How to Edit Text on Any Page in Shopify.
How to translate products, pages and blog posts in Shopify
Theme strings are covered above. Manually translating the full store - every product, page, and blog post - is done via the Translate & Adapt app.
Install Translate & Adapt from the Shopify App Store (it’s free and built by Shopify).
Once installed, it gives you a side-by-side editor where you translate:
- Product titles, descriptions, and variant names
- Page titles and content
- Collection titles and descriptions
- Navigation menu labels
- Blog post content
- Metafield values
You work in the app rather than the main Shopify admin. Each language is a separate locale, and content for each locale is stored and served independently.
For shipping wording specifically, see How to Change Shipping Text in Shopify.
How to add a language to Shopify
Step 1. Go to Shopify Admin → Settings → Languages.
Step 2. Click Add language.
Step 3. Select the language from the list.
Step 4. Save.
Adding the language creates the locale but doesn’t translate anything automatically. You still need to translate content manually or use a translation app that supports machine translation.
Publishing the language: After adding, go back to Settings → Languages → click Publish next to the language. This makes it available to visitors. Shopify doesn’t redirect visitors by browser language. Its free Geolocation app suggests the matching language and country to each visitor, and most stores also add a language selector.
How to auto-translate a whole Shopify store
For large volumes of text, manual translation is slow. Translate & Adapt can auto-translate content. In the app:
Step 1. Select the language you’re translating into.
Step 2. Click Auto-translate or the translate button next to a content block.
Step 3. Review the output - auto-translation is a starting point, not a finished product. Edit anything that sounds unnatural or incorrect for your brand voice.
Auto-translation works well for product descriptions and general page text. For marketing copy, landing pages, and branded messaging, manual editing after auto-translation is strongly recommended.
What does Edit default theme content cover?
The Edit default theme content editor (Online Store → Themes, then the three-dot menu (…) next to your theme) sets the default-language wording of:
- Theme interface strings: buttons, labels, form placeholders
- Checkout strings: the default wording of checkout labels and messages
- Email notification text: some notification templates reference theme translations
It does not cover product content, page content, or blog posts. Those are content - translated via Translate & Adapt or a third-party translation app. To translate the strings in this editor into another language, use Translate & Adapt (Theme → Default theme content).
For checkout wording, see How to Change Checkout Field Labels in Shopify.
Shopify Markets and multi-language stores
Shopify Markets handles the routing and localisation infrastructure for multi-language and multi-currency stores.
When you publish a language, Shopify Markets creates locale-specific URLs:
- Default:
yourstore.com/ - French:
yourstore.com/fr/ - German:
yourstore.com/de/
Go to Shopify Admin → Settings → Markets to configure which countries see which languages, currencies, and domains. This is separate from translation - Markets controls where languages are shown, while Translate & Adapt controls what is shown.
Third-party translation apps
Beyond Translate & Adapt, several apps offer more advanced translation workflows:
Weglot - handles translation at the CDN level. Fast to set up, no content duplication in Shopify. Subscription-based.
Langify - integrates deeply with Shopify’s content model. Good for complex product catalogues.
Bablic - visual translation editor that lets you click elements on your live site to translate them.
For most merchants with a simple catalogue, Translate & Adapt is sufficient and has no ongoing cost.
Translating theme sections built with Fudge
If you’ve added custom sections to your theme with Fudge, the AI operator for Shopify stores - landing pages, product features, promotional banners - those sections can be made translatable by adding them to your theme’s locale files.
Describe what you need to Fudge:
“Make the hero section on the summer campaign page translatable, with fields for the headline, subheading, and button text in each language.”
Fudge updates the section schema and locale files so the fields can be translated in Translate & Adapt.
You can also ask its store editor to translate a page (“Translate this page into German”) and review the result as a draft before it goes live. Fudge isn’t a live translation sync app, though: if you need new products and pages translated automatically as you add them, keep Translate & Adapt or one of the apps above.
FAQ
Will Shopify auto-detect customer language?
Not automatically. Shopify doesn't redirect by browser language, but its free Geolocation app suggests the matching language and country to each visitor. Most stores also add a language selector.
Should I translate every word manually or use machine translation?
Hybrid is best. Use machine translation (DeepL, Google) as the first pass for product descriptions and general content. Then manually edit marketing copy, brand voice content, and anything customer-facing where awkward translation would hurt trust. Fudge does the same hybrid in one step: it reads your existing English brand voice, translates with that context, and writes the locale-specific content back as drafts you can review per page.
Will untranslated content fall back to the original language?
Yes. If a product hasn't been translated to the target locale, Shopify shows the source language version (typically English) on that locale's URL. This prevents broken pages but creates a mixed-language experience. Translate at least your top-selling products and primary pages before publishing a locale.
Does Shopify Markets handle SEO for translated pages?
Yes. Shopify Markets generates hreflang tags automatically, telling Google which version of a page to show in each region's search results. This prevents duplicate-content penalties and improves discovery in international search. No manual hreflang configuration needed.
Can I have different prices for different languages or markets?
Yes via Shopify Markets — each market can have its own prices, currencies, and tax handling. Currency conversion happens at checkout based on the customer's market. For per-market price overrides (not just FX conversion), set explicit prices in each market's settings.
